US withdraws ‘lexicon of domestic extremism’

Washington, May 6 (IANS) The US administration has withdrawn in no time a ‘Domestic Extremism Lexicon’, defining a range of extremist activities. The Homeland Security Department office nixed the ‘reference aid’ within hours it came out of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) in late March, the Washington Times reported this week.

“The lexicon was not an authorised I&A product, and it was recalled as soon as management discovered it had been released without authorization,” Amy Kudwa, Homeland Security spokeswoman, was quoted as saying.

“This product is not, nor was it ever, in operational use,” she said.

Whites and blacks, Christians and Jews, Cubans and Mexicans, along with tax-hating Americans are among several political leanings listed in the now-cancelled Domestic Extremism Lexicon.

The 11-page document, listing formal definitions for key terms and phrases used by Homeland Security analysts, “addresses the nature and scope of the threat that domestic, non-Islamic extremism poses to the United States,” it said.

For example, ‘black separatism’ was defined as a movement that advocates the establishment of a separate nation within the US, and its members “advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence directed toward local law enforcement” to achieve their aims.

Black power is a “term used by black separatists to describe their pride in, and the perceived superiority of the black race,” the report said.

A ‘left-wing extremist’ is described as someone who opposes war or is dedicated to environmental and animal rights causes, while a ‘right-wing extremist’ is someone who is against abortion or for border enforcement.

The Times noted that the same ‘right-wing’ definition appeared in a report last month that prompted the veterans community to protest for also suggesting that veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were targets for extremist groups to recruit for attacks against the US.